A Pakistani court on Friday declared the prime minister Shahbaz SharifThe younger son of Suleman Shahbaz and another person were declared criminals in the money laundering case.
According to the Dawn newspaper report, the Lahore Special Court (Central-I) declared Suleman and Tahir Naqvi criminals as they did not appear despite being called.
The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had in November 2020 registered a case against Shahbaz and his sons Hamza and Suleiman under the Prevention of Corruption Act and Anti-Money Laundering Act.
On May 28, an arrest warrant was issued for Suleman and Naqvi. In the same hearing, the court had also issued an arrest warrant for another suspect, Malik Maqsood alias Maqsood ‘Chhaprasi’, who passed away in the UAE last month.
On June 11, the FIA submitted a report regarding non-bailable arrest warrants issued for Suleman, Naqvi and Maqsood. The FIA had said in its report that the warrant could not be executed as Suleiman was not present at his address and had gone abroad.
In Friday’s hearing, the court sought information about the properties of Suleman and Naqvi as well as Maqsood’s death certificate.
The court also accepted Prime Minister Shahbaz’s request for one-time exemption from attending the hearing but directed that he appear before the court in the next hearing.
The hearing was later adjourned till July 30.
In December 2021, the FIA produced challans in a special court against Shahbaz and Hamza for their alleged involvement in the laundering of an amount of Rs 16 billion in the sugar scam case.
“The investigation team has traced 28 benami accounts of the Shahbaz family through which money laundering to the tune of Rs 16.3 billion was done during 2008-18. The FIA investigated the money trail of 17,000 credit transactions,” according to the FIA report submitted to the court.
The report said the amount was kept in “hidden accounts” and given to Shahbaz personally.
This amount (Rs 16 billion) has nothing to do with the sugar business (Shahbaz family). The FIA had alleged that funds received by Shahbaz from the accounts of low-paid employees were transferred outside Pakistan through hundi/hawala networks, ultimately for the beneficial use of his family members.
“Eleven low-paid employees of the Sharif Group, who ‘held’ the proceeds of laundering on behalf of the main accused and were found guilty of facilitating money laundering. Three other co-accused of the Sharif Group also actively engaged in money laundering. helped in the laundering,” the agency had said.